


Warmth

by Elenhin



Series: home knitting and home cooking [1]
Category: The Almighty Johnsons
Genre: Blinking cold, Cold, Gen, If you like knitted cardigans this is a fic for you, knitted cardigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-27
Updated: 2014-01-27
Packaged: 2018-01-10 06:06:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1156033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elenhin/pseuds/Elenhin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In an office where the heating has gone off on a holilday it can get pretty cold. What is better for warmth than a home knitted cardigan. </p>
<p>Dawn has one, but who would knit anything for Anders? </p>
<p>Written partially because it's very, very cold here...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Warmth

Warmth

 

The heating in their office does not work properly, and no matter who Anders speaks to, they can’t seem to get it fixed properly. It will be fine for a day, or two, sometimes a week but then it fails again. Even when it is mostly working, it might go down, leaving the office chilly if not ice cold, and it’s the same all over the building.

  
Suddenly Dawn sees a lot of people walking around with hats, mitts and heavy coats on.

 

Clients are understanding, or annoyed, but Anders manages to keep them from getting too upset over it.

 

Telling a busy and important business man to keep his coat on becuase the office is freezing is a good way to lose customers, but there are times when Dawn thinks that Anders is no less than a genious. A bottle of vodka served to help solve the problem and Dawn is fairly impressed. The chairs are covered in white fake furs, and he has picked up a large amount of hot chocolate, including whipped cream on a can. While not as good as real cream it does the trick.

 

Dawn have to admit that she’s amazed when Anders wearing gloves and hat ushers in a fancy dressed business woman who starts out by scowling and almost turning in the doorway when she realizes that it is no warmer in the office than it is outside.

 

“We’re experiencing some heating difficulties at the moment,” Anders smiles at her. “You might want to keep your coat on, but I’m sure we can make this bearable.” He winks and nods to Dawn who readies two mugs of the chocolate, the coffee maker is the capsule kind, so it does not take more than a minute, and Anders reaches over to grab a plate of homemade chocolate chip cookies, gingerbread, and also a perfectly round type of cookies she has never seen before. Anders called them Aebleskiver, and declared they were from Denmark. Given his Scandinavian background it makes sense to Dawn and she assumes Ty must have made them for him. She can’t imagine him having found somewhere to buy them. They are however her favorite, together with the crummel cake that is basically a thin rolled up wafer with an intricate pattern on it. Even if the aeppleskivers has to be taken from the fridge and re-heated in the microwave before served which makes the crummel cake easier to just grab.

 

Sipping hot chocolate and eating homemade cookies appear to have most of them smiling and so does this lady.

 

“I see you make the most of your ‘heating problem’,” she muses as she reaches for another aebleskiver and Anders pushes the plate closer to her with a light laugh.

 

“If you have to suffer, you might as well enjoy it,” he declares with a playful smile. “It’s not just this office, I can only assume the furnace dislikes the cold as much as we do, and took a holiday until it’s warmer again.”

 

She laughs as that, and Dawn is relieved that they will not lose a contract that they really need.

 

The heating is a problem though, for their clients who comes in quickly the furs and the hot chocolate is enough, but for them it is worse.

 

The coats are clumsy to wear indoors even if Dawn keeps a thin pair of gloves on.

 

It’s even worse for Anders since she knows how he really suffers from the cold, and she can tell he’s constantly on the verge of catching sick from it.

 

It is really only the occasional day with working heating that keeps him more or less in health.

 

It really does not bother Dawn very much at all, cold never did, and she has the long, almost dress like cardigan her grandmother once made for her.

 

Anders when she first wears it pauses to look at her, “I don’t believe you’ve bought that one,” he muses.

 

“My grandmother knitted it for me before she died,” she smiles. “She was always knitting things for us grandkids, and she taught my aunt to knit as well, though my mother never enjoyed it.”

 

“Shame, that is beautiful and it suits you,” Anders decides. It is a light grey in colour, and the stitches forms various patterns, from simple ones to intricate braids. The buttons are set in one braid, and on the other side the same braid forms the buttonholes and he has to admit that he is more than a little impressed.

 

“I’ve never seen anything like that. Not home made anyway.”

 

“She always said it was easy once you knew how,” Dawn smiles. “But I always found it hard, I can knit some simple things, scarves and such, but nothing like this, my aunt can though.”

 

“Impressive,” he smiles. “I’m almost jealous, actually, I am,” he decides wrapping his arms around himself. “That looks warm and I’m freezing my balls off.”

 

“You’ll survive,” she smiles though she do feel sorry for it. “Did you ever have anything home knitted then?”

 

“I don’t know, I think maybe when I was a kid. I remember Gran knitting, and making aebleskiver, but she died when I was really young. So I don’t really know.”

 

“I’m sorry,” there’s a wistful look on his face and she can’t help but feel a little guilty for bringing it up, but then he shrugs.

 

“It’s not like I can’t go out and buy a sweater Dawn,” he grins and shrugs. “It’s just too cold to do it.”

 

“Too cold to buy a sweater, that sounds a lot like you,” she muses.

 

“Maybe they’ll have the heat working again after the weekend,” Anders shrugs.

 

Only they do not, and it’s actually colder by then and she notices how Anders appears to be shivering more often than not, even with his jacket on. By this time she’s actually surprised that he has not yet caught pneumonia. He is most certainly suffering the early stages of a cold, but he’s not fully sick yet.

 

It’s still enough for Dawn to close the folder and walk over, trying to rub some warmth back into her hands. “Why don’t we move this somewhere else for the rest of the day? There are no clients coming in, and we can deal with the correspondence. We need to get caught up on that anyway, and as long as we bring your laptop, we don’t have to turn into icicles to do it.”

 

Anders opens his mouth to reply, and sneezes, looking annoyed with it. “Good idea, we can pick up something to eat, or make something. I just  really want something hot right now.”

 

“Hot sounds good,” she agrees. “But at the moment my cupboards are about as empty as yours, and I’m more in the mood for a home cooked meal.”

 

“If you get the groceries, I’ll cook,” Anders decides. Pulling out his wallet he passes her his card. “There is no way I’m going shopping in this weather.”

 

“You cook?” she can’t help but sound astonished.

 

“I can cook if I have to, but I normally don’t want to, but right now, even cooking sounds good. At least it’s warm by the stove.”

 

“It’d be worth it just to see you cook,” she decides. “Though I have to say I don’t like it either. It’s much too cold, but you have a deal.”

 

“I’ll head on then, you shop and meet up with me at my place,” Anders writes out a quick list that he passes to her, then closes the lid on his laptop and heads out to his car.

 

Dawn finds shopping a really miserable affair, not just tedious but really miserable. She almost regrets agreeing to it. Anders might have given her a list, and the store is warm enough but carrying the bags to the car is cold.

 

When she finally gets to Anders flat she finds him working but as soon as she enters he stands. “I started it, but I’m sure you can take it from there. And I’ll get started on the food.”

 

“Are you sure you can do this?” she frowns. “I have never seen you cook Anders. I have never even heard of you cooking.”

 

“Not liking to cook, and not being able to cook are two different things Dawn,” he grins. “I’m not exactly a master chef, but I won’t kill you.”

 

“Well, let me know if you need me to help you,” she decides as she puts the bags on the counter and moves to sit at the dining table where he has placed the laptop instead. “And please tell me you have some tea? I really need something warm right about now.”

 

“Sure, I think Ty has left some here,” it does not take him long to make her a cup, and then he starts on the food.

 

Dawn keeps looking up from time to time, suspiciously at first and then with surprise when she decides it looks like he knows what he is doing. He has taken out a cutting board and a set of knives she has never seen before in his kitchen but they look identical to the ones Ty has, professional knives.

 

“Something wrong?” he wants to know as he looks up, pausing with the knife for a moment.

 

“I thought I had seen everything in your kitchen, I’ve been cleaning up after you a time or two after all,” she points out. “But I didn’t know you had knives like that.”

 

She’s not surprised that he smiles rather than takes offence. “I bought two sets, one for Ty, and one for me. Becuase as I keep telling you, I do not really enjoy cooking. I can enjoy it on occasion, when there is a good reason for it. When I want to do it, and then I want to have good equipment. I got fed up with using an old boy scout knife years ago. I don’t always buy the fancy stuff just to show I can spend the money, quality pays Dawn, in it’s own way.”

 

“Yes, I know,” she agrees. “But I did not know you had given Ty those knives.”

 

“Ty likes to cook,” he shrugs. “And I like not to starve.” Taking up the knife again he continues and the next time she looks up he’s pouring olive oil into a small glass bowl, adding spice and herbs to it before brushing it over the chicken.

 

There’s a pot on the stove with a lot of steam coming from it, and two more that appears to be just simmering.

 

Anders serves up the food with the same skill he showed in making it, pasta with a creamy sauce, steamed vegetables that look better than such food normally do. He have apparently steamed them, but now there is a hint of butter to. The chicken looks delicious and the fragrance that is now fully released is enough to make her mouth water.

 

“You might want to wrap that up now, I’ll just see if I can find some wine,” he tells her as he puts the plates on the dining table.

 

“Anders, I’ve never seen you be short on alcohol,” she points out, trying, really trying not to drool.

 

“I might deserve that,” he pauses. “But alcohol and a good wine for the dinner are two separate things Dawn.”

 

“I’m sorry, I blame being hungry and tempted by the smell,” she apologizes. The look on Anders face really indicates that there is something more to it. He brings out a smaller bottle, opening it and pours two glasses and finally Dawn is allowed to taste the food. She has taken a bite of the bread before she realizes that it’s garlic bread.

 

“I didn’t buy this?” looking up confused can only remember buying the plain kind.

 

“I mixed some garlic with butter for it. It’s better that way,” he simply shrugs as if it is nothing special.

 

The chicken however is, as is the pasta. Altogether she can hardly remember when she last had a meal like it. “I can’t understand this, you normally eat crap, and you can cook like that,” she shakes her head. “Anders, it doesn’t make sense.”

 

Putting down his fork Anders reaches up to rub the bridge of his nose for a moment. “I keep telling you  Dawn, I don’t really like to cook. Sure, I know it’s pretty good, sure as hell better than anything Mike or Axl can make, but I don’t really enjoy it, and I don’t always manage this well either. Sometimes it’s crap, and trust me, I can fail miserably.”

 

“And yet this is good enough for any restaurant,” taking another bite she savours it. “I’m not going to say anything. I can understand if you don’t enjoy it, but I can’t help wishing you had done this before.”

 

“Don’t hassle me about it, and maybe I’ll do it again,” he grins. “Look Dawn, I had to cook for Ty and Axl when Mike was off with Val and Coma-Rob, and well, working too. And Axl in those days tended to always give me a hassle about it. Things were crap and he needed to vent, so whatever I made was never good enough. Ty was under a lot of pressure becuase his brother cooked for him, and all his friends were hassling him about him not having a mum to do it. Val didn’t want me to cook, because like I said, when I mess it up, I really mess it up. So she didn’t want me anywhere near the kitchen. Somewhere at that time I figure that yeah, I can cook, but why the hell should I. Especially when I was thrown out. I knew how to cook, but I never could afford anything worth cooking.”

 

Dawn shook her head over how foolish people could be, and the fact that they had ruined something where Anders showed such promise and talent. “It’s a shame, I can understand it, but I think it’s a shame, because I never thought I’d say this. But I don’t even think Ty cooks this good.”

 

“And I never thought it would feel so good to hear you say so,” he grinned. “I’ll cook for you again, soon, if you promise not to be mad when I mess it up.”

 

“You have my word, anything for this,” she promised gladly.

 

“But if they can’t get the fucking heating fixed soon, I refuse to go into the office,” he declared with feeling and she knew he meant it. Anders hated feeling cold, and really suffered for it.

 

“We’ll figure something out,” she promised. “If nothing else, I’ll buy you one of those cute onesies,” and she laughed at the look of horror on his face. “Don’t worry Anders, I won’t do that to you.”

 

“For being warm, I’d gladly wear one,” he stated to her surprise. “But it wouldn’t really do at the office.”

 

“No, but I have an idea for something that might,” she decided. “But hopefully they will get the heating fixed.”

 

They did not, and she could not blame Anders for wanting to spend less and less time at the office. He was not yet fully sick, but he had the constant beginning of a cold. She was warm enough in her cardigan, but Anders still insisted that it was much too cold to go out and buy clothes.

 

“I have something for you,” she smiled as she put the parcel on his desk.

 

“Present?” Anders shone up, and sneezed, making her give him a look of sympathy. “Hey, that’s not the cardigan you said your granny made you,” he paused as he studied the purple one she now wore.

 

“No, I told my aunt about our problem here, she must have been knitting day and night,” she mused.

 

Anders gave a wistful smile, almost sad, “Makes me rather wish I had an aunt like that. But somehow, I can’t see Olaf knitting me a sweater.”

 

“If he did, given his most common state, I’m sure he’d make it with three or four arms,” she declared with a half snort as Anders unpacked a knitted pullover. “Besides, my aunt made that for you.” For a moment she was worried when Anders only stared at it. “She wanted to, I told her about the heating, and she wanted to know your size. I wasn’t sure if it’s really your style, but I couldn’t tell her that.”

 

Anders straightened his tie and pulled it on, a smile on his face like a little boy at Christmas as he ran a hand over it, smoothing it down. A soft blue grey in colour it really suited him, a discrete pattern with diamond ribbing and cable braids down the front, back and sleeves.

 

“Thank her for me Dawn, I’ve never had anything like it,” There was something in his eyes and in his voice that she was not used to. “Tell her,” he paused to swallow, “tell her I’m really grateful.”

 

“She will be glad to hear that,” she smiled. Thinking that she was not good enough with words to describe just how grateful Anders appeared to be. A little boy at Christmas, one who has just discovered that Santa do exist and is not just a lie. A little boy who has for the first time received a gift only for him. Anders looks like he do not dare to believe it’s for him. He’s constantly touching it, rubbing his hand over it, and she finds herself wondering if he’ll even take it off when he goes to bed or if he will keep it on, just like a little boy.

 

It’s amazing and slightly sad that such simple things can bring out such immense emotion in Anders but at the same it’s beautiful to see. So she leaves him alone so she can watch him just out of the corner of her eye but without bothering him. Hoping she will get to see the same thing again sometime.

 

She’ll learn to knit properly herself if that’s what it takes.

  
The End

 

Please Comment, the Cricket is hungry.....


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